Future Child
by omelettethemusical
Summary: Set right after the events of "Future Imperfect", with references to "The Child". Will and Deanna reflect on parenthood.


After Barash had beamed off the Enterprise, Will went to Deanna's quarters for an informal therapy session. She already knew the basics of the situation, along with the rest of the senior staff. But of course she wanted to hear the full story from Will.

Will paced around Deanna's quarters as he told her everything. How he woke up in Sickbay and found out that sixteen years had passed and he was captain of the Enterprise. How Picard was an admiral and she was working at Starfleet command. How he had a son, Jean-Luc. How his mother was a hologram. How when he figured out the deception, he found himself held hostage by Tomalak. How "Jean-Luc" was now a boy named Ethan. How he figured out that "Ethan" had created the simulation, and finally revealed himself to be an alien named Barash who had created what he thought would be Will's ideal world to keep him there so he wouldn't have to be alone.

"You did a good thing, Will," Deanna said. "No one would have blamed you if you'd left him there."

Will stared at her. "Wouldn't they?"

"He kidnapped you," Deanna said. "He messed with your mind. You could've had him arrested if you'd wanted to."

"He was just a kid, Deanna," Will said. "He was lonely."

"I know," Deanna said. "But some people might not have been so understanding."

"I admit I was disappointed when I found out you weren't the mother," Will told her, smiling.

"But if I had been, you might never have realized it wasn't real," Deanna said. "And then you'd still be down there."

"Would that have been so bad?" Will asked wistfully.

"It would have for us," she said. "For a while there, we thought we'd lost you."

"Jean-Luc created what he thought would be my ideal world," Will said. "I was captain of the Enterprise. I had a son. I told him that I was always afraid of being a father because my own father was never there for me. Maybe that's why I was never able to settle down. With you or with anyone."

"How did you like being a father?" Deanna asked.

"It was amazing," Will said. "Scary, but amazing. I hadn't known my son for an hour when he broke his arm playing Parrises squares and landed in Sickbay. I told him he could have broken his neck."

"Sounds like your son," Deanna said with a grin.

Will smiled back. "Dr. Crusher reminded me that I started playing Parrises squares when I was younger than him. She was right, of course. I was being overprotective." He looked at her and saw that she had started crying. "Deanna? Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me," she said, looking away from him and wiping her eyes. "This is about you."

"We're not in your office, Deanna," he said, putting his arm around her shoulder. "You can tell me what's bothering you."

"It's Ian," she said. "I was just... thinking about Ian, that's all."

Will suddenly remembered the baby she had had two years ago, an energy being who had impregnated her and aged rapidly into a child in order to experience life as a human. She had only had a few days with him before he left his human form in order to save the ship.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'd forgotten. If this is bringing up painful memories for you - "

"No, it's fine," she said, facing him. "I guess I need to talk about it too."

"You were a great mother, Deanna," he said.

"And I'm sure you were a great father," she said. "I just wish I was around to see it."

He sensed there was something she wasn't saying. He raised an eyebrow. "But?"

"But it wasn't real," she said. "Dr. Pulaski said it was like I was never pregnant. I wasn't really a mother. You weren't really a father. We never really had children, only aliens pretending to be our children for their own selfish purposes."

"The love and joy I saw from you - that was real," Will said. "What is it the captain says? 'Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all'?"

"Do you believe that?" Deanna asked.

"I don't know," Will said. "I only know that I just experienced something I never knew I wanted. And now I feel empty without it."

"Me too," Deanna said. "Will... I want another child. A real child." His eyes widened, wondering if she was saying what he thought she was saying. "Not now," she clarified quickly. "But someday. Someday."

"I want a child too," Will said. "I want to hold it as a baby. I want to see its first steps, hear its first words, all those things I never got to do with Jean-Luc."

"And I want to savor every minute," Deanna said. "I want to raise it for years and years before it grows up to be taller than me."

"I love you," he said. He leaned in for a kiss, and she kissed him fiercely back, the tears still stinging in her eyes. When they pulled apart, his face was wet too, and she couldn't tell if they were his tears or her own.

"Imzadi," she whispered. "I want you to be the father of my child - of my children."

"And I want you to be the mother of mine."

They both fell asleep on her couch, their arms wrapped around each other. They knew that things would look brighter in the morning, with another exciting day of adventure ahead of them. But for now, they took comfort in the promise they had made each other - that any future child they had together, would be real.


End file.
